Water ski



INVENTOR. PAUL A -MAHELE ATTORNEYS Unite 3,080,585 WATER SKI laul A.Marble, 16 W. Pedregosa, Santa Barbara, Calif. Filed Nov. 7, 1960, Ser.No. 67,596 2 Claims. (Cl. 9--310) This invention relates to a water skihaving a unique cross-sectional configuration by which is achieved a skihaving less drag and one which lies in a much flatter planing positionrather than the customary bow up, stern down plowing condition presentedby conventional skis when used one at a time only. The configuration ofthis ski has also been found to render the same more stable and yet torespond readily on cuts and turns. Furthermore, the unique configurationof the ski provides greater buoyancy or lift so that the ski may be usedat very low speeds enabling the use of boats with much lesser horsepowerpower plants. In fact, a ski embodying the present invention has beensuccessfully skied as a single ski supporting a one hundred and sixtypound skier at twelve miles per hour.

The increased lift also, of course, provides easier and quicker startsfrom deep water. It is a feature of this invention that a water ski isprovided which is conventional construction near the upwardly bent toe,but has a concave bottom with a progressively increasing degree ofconcavity, or in other words, a progressively decreasing radius ofcurvature in the bottom from front to rear. This construction results inan ever-increasing degree of lift in the ski from bow to stern whichaccounts for the flat planing position which also smooths out roughwater rather than merely bouncing over the same.

It is another feature of this invention that the concavity in the bottomof the ski presents a greater degree of angle of attack when the ski istilted sideways as on a turn which eliminates side slip.

These and other objects, features and advantages will be apparent fromthe annexed specification in which:

'FIGURE 1 is atop plan view of the ski embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side view thereof;

FIGURES 3, 4, and 6 are sections taken along the lines 3--3, 4--4, 55and 66, respectively; and

FIGURE 7 is an end view taken along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 2.

Patented Mar. 12, 1963 Referring now more particularly to the drawings,the ski is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and consists of aski-shaped piece of floatable material such as wood or laminated woodhaving an upwardly bent toe portion 11. It will be appreciated that inpractice suitable bindings will be required for the feet of the user,but as the same constitute no part of the present invention they havebeen omitted. As indicated at the position of the root of the bend forthe toe portion 11 the bottom of the ski is fiat as shown in FIGURE 3 at12, but as is shown in FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7, directly behind the bend 3the bottom of the ski 13 is concave in cross-section with the degree ofconcavity increasing as at 14 and again at 15 and being maximum at therear end as at 16, as shown. A convenient method of forming a ski inthis manner is by curving an initially flat ski with the result that thecrosssection of the ski in any of the sections 4, 5 or 6 will show thesame as concave-convex.

While there has been described what is at present considered a preferredembodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be madetherein without departing from the essence of the invention and it isintended to cover herein all such changes and modifications as comeWithin the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A water ski having a bottom configuration which is flat adjacent thefront of the ski in the region behind the up-bent toe and which isconcave thereafter with a progressively greater degree of curvatureprogressing from front to rear of the ski.

2. A water ski having an upbent toe and a conventional cross-sectionalconfiguration adjacent the root of the bend but being transverselyconcave-convex with a progressively greater degree of curvature from theroot of the bend to the rear of the ski.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,184,791 Broome Dec. 26, 1939 2,193,892 Van Gorden Mar. 19, 19402,269,801 Wilbrich Jan. 13, 1942 2,959,795 Leung Nov. 15, 1960

2. A WATER SKI HAVING AN UPBENT TOE AND A CONVENTIONAL CROSS-SECTIONALCONFIGURATION ADJACENT THE ROOT OF THE BEND BUT BEING TRANSVERSELYCONCAVO-CONVEX WITH A PROGRESSIVELY GREATER DEGREE OF CURVATURE FROM THEROOT OF THE BEND TO THE REAR OF THE SKI.